Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar gives WWE fans their dream match

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Sunday night’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view might have been a bit of a letdown, depending on your definition of extreme. But, as a result of Extreme Rules, we will get to see a long awaited dream match.

Samoa Joe bested Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in the Fatal 5-Way main event. That means Joe will take on Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view in July.

It will mark the first time Samoa Joe and Lesnar have ever faced each other, presenting wrestling fans with a showdown for the ages.

In truth, WWE couldn’t go wrong with the outcome of Extreme Rules. Any of the competitors winning would have made for a compelling showdown with Lesnar. But dream matches are hard to come by in this day and age, and Joe-Lesnar is just that.

For mainstream fans still unfamiliar with Samoa Joe, he was long considered one of the greatest wrestlers never to breakthrough in WWE. He dominated promotions like TNA and Ring of Honor, putting on classic matches with the likes of Kurt Angle, CM Punk and AJ Styles.

Joe had an brief stint in WWE, competing in one match on an episode of “Jakked” (no longer in existence), in 2001 against up-and-comer Essa Rios. WWE has all but erased that forgettable showdown from the history books.

Joe would leave for an epic career with Ring of Honor and TNA. He made his proper WWE debut when he confronted Kevin Owens at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable in 2015.